


Broken Years

by AuthoressofDarkness



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Canon Compliant, Romance, Starker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-07 09:10:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21455566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuthoressofDarkness/pseuds/AuthoressofDarkness
Summary: Loosely based on a whump prompt sent to me by a friend. Six or so years post snap, but as if Pepper and May had disappeared, and Peter and Tony didn’t. What happens when an injured Spider-Man breaks into a seemingly empty Stark Tower?
Relationships: Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	Broken Years

**Author's Note:**

> So I just realized I put this on tumblr and never here. Usually that's backwards. Weird. Anyway, I figured we need something fluffy to counteract the darkness of BATB. So, enjoy!

Everything hurts. 

He’s not thinking clearly, he knows he’s not. He’s lost too much blood, and he’s been swinging for so long, and really,  _ everything hurts _ . He just needs somewhere to curl up and rest for a while... or maybe curl up and die, based on the extent of his injuries, but he’s not really coherent enough to know which is more likely.

So when he starts to run out of web fluid and sees the lights of the familiar tower telling him he’d made it back to Manhattan in the distance, he heads for it. Maybe he should have realized just because it’s no longer in use doesn’t necessarily mean it’s abandoned in the sense of security, but honestly all he’s worried about is not crashing somewhere he’ll be found publicly. 

So he just swings up to the tower, into the first window Karen says he can get into without having to break it open. He swings through, and immediately collapses, unable to even land on his feet. He curses himself, but stays on the ground, trying to gather his strength to move.

Things since half of everyone disappeared have been hell. He’s alone - he’s been alone, since May disappeared - and he’s one of the only super-individuals still bothering to do anything about the state that the Earth was left in. Naturally that makes him a target, and while he’s used to being kidnapped by now, it doesn’t make it hurt any less when it happens. 

This time had been particularly bad. He doesn’t know how long he was there. He only knows it’s been days, if not weeks, and that he hasn’t eaten or been allowed to sleep properly and his body is on the verge of giving up. 

He’s past the point of his enhanced healing working, and he knew that when he had decided to fight back. But he had to get out of there before they could kill him or actually fulfill the murmurings he’d heard about the possibility of moving him somewhere more secure. If that happened, he’d never get out. So he fought.

To say the fight on top of the injuries he had already sustained nearly killed him would not be an understatement. He’s not entirely sure he’s not going to die, even if he does manage to move. But he knows he  _ definitely _ will if he doesn’t. 

So, slowly, he moves to his hands and knees on the ground, groaning at the pain every movement causes him. He’s vaguely aware of the ever-growing puddle of blood around him now that he’s sitting still, but there’s little he can do about it. He can barely move as it is.

Barely, but it’s enough to let him raise a shaking hand and pull off his mask, to shift himself against a wall when he knows he won’t be able to hold himself up a moment longer. There’s so many things he needs, but right now he’s just trying to focus on not blacking out, because he knows if he does there’s a chance he won’t wake up. 

But it’s a battle he’s losing quickly. He’s breathing so hard it must look like he’d just run a marathon, even though he hadn’t done anything more strenuous than swinging for... well, for long enough that he shouldn’t be breathing like this. But his vision is blacking out and he’s not getting enough air and so he just lays there, trying to ride it out, barely coherent enough to know it’s fruitless. 

Help comes in the form that he least expects. 

Tony shouldn’t even be in the city right now. He’s honestly tried to avoid it at all costs, since the snap, but in the same sense, he still has obligations to fulfill. Pepper is gone, and it’s not as if there’s anyone else he trusts to run SI. So he’s CEO again, and with that responsibility, he does have bare minimum obligations to meet. Attending a huge ass meeting every couple months in person is one of them, even if he doesn’t like it. But at least it’s only one he has to show up for and pretend to be a person that's put together for at least a little bit. 

These days, he’s a recluse, and he makes little effort to hide it. He stays out of the public eye - and mainly keeps away from prying eyes, if he can help it. 

But he’s still Iron Man, even if he doesn’t do the superhero gig anymore. No one dares mess with him still. 

So imagine his surprise when- 

“Boss, an intruder has been detected on the 87th floor.” 

Tony straightens, looking at the clock. It’s three-something in the morning. Of course he’s still awake and tinkering in his lab - because what  _ else _ would he be doing at three am - and maybe it’s the sleep deprivation, but he really can’t believe what he just heard. Who in their right mind would try to break into the tower? And how in the hell had they  _ succeeded _ ? 

“Fri, you got eyes on them? How did they get in?” 

“Yes, boss. It seems that the intruder came in through an open window on the floor. No damage detected, although-“

“There’s no way in hell someone climbed through an open window hundreds of feet in the air,” Tony interrupts, torn between irritable and disbelieving. 

“It might be possible for this individual, sir. According the my files, the intruder bears a remarkable resemblance to one Peter Parker.” 

“The Spiderling?” All irritation disappears, replaced by worry. Of course he knew his true identity; he knew most of the few remaining heroes, by name if not personally. He’d always been interested in Spider-Man. After the Snap, when it became apparent he wasn’t going to stop but that Tony had no interest in going back into the hero business, that was when he’d done the digging and figured everything out. He’d even made him his new suit - anonymously donated, of course. “Is he injured?”

A pause. “Appears so, boss. He’s not looking great. My scanners detect massive blood loss, six broken ribs-“

“Fuck!” Tony is on his feet in an instant. “Don’t you think you should have led with that? Christ. Save the injuries list. Call the closest authorized medical professional. Tell them it’s an emergency.” Even from that first snippet he’d heard, he could tell it wasn’t going to be good. Whatever happened to him might explain why he’d been off the grid the past two weeks. Still, even if it didn’t, he wasn’t just going to let the kid die. 

He’s thought he’d already majorly failed at his job in all the ways that counted, but as he steps into the elevator with his heart pounding, he realizes that maybe he still has a few things left to lose. 


End file.
